Syria: The 5th Olives and Olive Oil International Exhibition Opens
When Damascus opened another international olive fair, it was easy to overlook how much weight sits behind it : Syria is one of the very oldest olive-growing lands, home to tens of millions of trees and, in good years, a major world producer of oil and table fruit.
An olive fair in Damascus is not a novelty but a marker of something very old. The northern Levant — today’s Syria and its neighbours — lies close to the cradle of the cultivated olive, where the tree was being grown and pressed thousands of years ago. Modern Syria carries that inheritance forward at scale : tens of millions of trees, a long list of native varieties, and output that, in strong seasons, has placed it among the world’s larger producers of both olive oil and table olives.
Where the trees grow
The olive heartland is the north and west : the hills and plains around Aleppo and Idlib, and the coastal belt near Latakia, with plantings reaching down toward Damascus and the south. This is old, established olive country, much of it farmed by smallholders on terraced ground. The famous olive-oil soap of Aleppo — laurel and olive oil, made for centuries — is the best-known emblem of just how deep the crop runs in the region’s economy and daily life.
The varieties, and the style
Syria grows its own distinct cultivars rather than borrowing Mediterranean names. Sorani (around Aleppo) is a prized dual-purpose olive giving a robust, stable oil ; Zaiti is a classic oil variety, and Kaissy is grown for both oil and the table. The oils tend to the sturdy, fruity and peppery end of the spectrum. Much has traditionally been consumed at home — Syrians are keen olive-oil eaters — with the surplus exported, often in bulk rather than under a strong national brand.
An honest, sober note
It would be dishonest to write about Syrian olives as if the last decade had not happened. War, sanctions and mass displacement have battered the sector : groves damaged or abandoned, mills disrupted, exports curtailed, and in the northwest the trade repeatedly caught up in conflict. The deep agricultural roots remain, and olives are among the crops best able to endure neglect and return. But anyone reading old production figures should treat them as a picture of potential, not a report on the present.
| Region | Northern Levant — among the oldest olive lands |
|---|---|
| Heartland | Aleppo, Idlib, the Latakia coast, toward Damascus |
| Key varieties | Sorani, Zaiti, Kaissy |
| Products | Olive oil, table olives, and Aleppo olive-oil soap |
| Oil style | Robust, fruity, peppery; much used at home |
| Note | Sector heavily disrupted by war and sanctions |
- Syria is olive antiquity — among the tree’s oldest cultivated homes.
- Look for Sorani if you meet a genuine Syrian oil — robust and stable.
- Aleppo soap is the region’s most famous olive-oil product.
- Treat pre-war output figures with care; the sector has been badly hit.
Syrian olives and olive oil: common questions
Is Syria really a major olive producer?
Historically yes. With tens of millions of trees, Syria has in strong years ranked among the world’s larger producers of olive oil and table olives, though war has since disrupted the sector heavily.
What are the main Syrian olive varieties?
Native cultivars such as Sorani (around Aleppo), Zaiti and Kaissy. Sorani in particular is prized for a robust, stable oil.
Where do olives grow in Syria?
Chiefly in the north and west — around Aleppo and Idlib and along the Latakia coast — extending south toward Damascus.
What is Aleppo soap?
A traditional hard soap made from olive oil and laurel oil, produced in Aleppo for centuries and the region’s best-known olive-oil product.
Can I still buy Syrian olive oil?
It exists but is far less available on world markets than before, owing to war and sanctions. Much Syrian oil has long moved in bulk rather than under a strong national brand.
Syria is a reminder that the olive map is older and wider than the marketing map. Places with no shelf presence in a Western supermarket can be among the tree’s true ancestral homes. If you ever come across a real Sorani oil, try it — it is the taste of one of the oldest olive cultures alive. And hold the old production tables lightly : they describe what this land can do in peace, not the reduced and difficult present its growers are living through.
Prompted by a 2006 Damascus olive-oil exhibition; rewritten as an evergreen overview of Syria’s olive sector, with figures treated qualitatively.